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Feeding Off American Families

The June 19, article in the Wall Street Journal, titled “Green-Power King Thrives On Government Subsidies” explained how NextEra Energy profited from wind and solar energy subsidies.

It reported that NextEra Energy generated more electricity from wind and solar installations than did any other company in the world.

NextEra Energy consists of Florida Power and Light (FPL) and NextEra Energy Resources LLC (NEER) plus other components described in its Form 10-K.

Logo from NextEra Energy website

When states enacted renewable portfolio standards (RPS) requiring utilities to provide electricity from wind and solar, NextEra Energy was in a position to capitalize on local utilities being forced to sell electricity generated by wind and solar.

In these bilateral transactions between local utilities being forced to buy electricity from wind and solar providers, the wind and solar provider could strike a lucrative deal.

NextEra Energy also invested in areas where RTO/ISOs have established what is euphemistically called competitive markets, i.e., wholesale electricity markets, where auctions are determined by marginal, not full-costs.

But $2,025, or two-thirds, of NEER’s net income, is from “Income tax benefits”.

According to a chart published by the Wall Street Journal, the government will pay $32 Billion in wind energy tax credits between 2008 and 2020.

These tax credits are from tax-paying American households.

I believe in free markets, but not corporations feeding off families, even if it’s only a few hundred dollars per household.

While the WSJ article focused on NextEra Energy, there were others who also participated in these tax credits.

It appears as though NextEra Energy and these other entities also obtained renewable energy credits (RECs) that could be sold, but the NextEra Energy financial report provided no information on the value of these RECs.

Bit by bit the nature of the renewable energy fleecing of taxpayers is coming to light.

The fuel for wind and solar energy is free, but too much of the money, that’s free to the corporation, is coming from taxpayers.